Psych (Season 8)

If Season 7 was any indication, Psych was starting to drop off in quality a bit, so the decision to end it here was a good idea. Knowing how weak most of the season ended up being made the decision feel even better.

Psych's final season is at its best when it's dealing with the end of the show. Episodes like 1967: A Psych Odyssey and of course the series finale are highlights because seeing the characters we have come to know and love move on to new phases in their lives is genuinely compelling and affecting. This tends to be the case with a lot of comedies, even if the last season is weak (like in Friends and The Office), saying goodbye to the cast always tends to be pretty emotional. However, not every attempt at drama worked this season, particularly the big conflict with Trout, who takes over as chief. Trout absolutely sucks, he spent the first four episodes of the season putting the characters through hell, firing everyone who crosses him. He's a pretty cheap attempt at drama and his unbelievable lack of redeeming qualities made any scene with him a chore to watch. Obviously, I was very happy when he left, but I just wish he wasn't in the show in the first place.

But that's still just about half the season, as Season 8 also has quite a bunch of experimental episodes. However, just like Season 7 if not a bit worse, these were actually kinda hit or miss. There were some fun episodes, with "Lock, Stock, Some Smoking Barrels" bringing back Desperaux one last time and "Cog Blocked" just being a thoroughly hilarious Gus episode, but this doesn't apply to the whole season. The two major low points here were definitely "Remake" and "A Nightmare On State Street". "Remake" tried to parody movie remakes by making a purposefully bad version of a Season 1 episode, but the show runners didn't quite realize that it made the episode pretty unfun to watch. As for "A Nightmare On State Street", it's a bizarre, unfunny,  and inconsequential episode about dream sequences that even managed to make Gus annoying. How do you even do that? Once again, not every episode this season was bad, but it definitely shows that the series was starting to run out of steam.

Despite my many complaints with the season, there's one episode that still stood out:

The Breakup: This is easily one of my favorite series finales of all time. It's not a big climactic battle with the Yang/Yin family, it's not anything super dramatic, it's a victory lap, a farewell tour, and it wraps up all of the show's storylines in a satisfying manner. Shawn having to tell Gus he was leaving is a compelling hook, the final case is a ton of fun, Lassiter learning the truth about Shawn was an amazing moment, the hint at Monk being canon was hilarious, and the final scene where Shawn, Gus, and Juliet chase down the latter's engagement ring as a trio just felt perfect. It might just be the most earned and satisfying final episode a series could ever have.

Overall, Season 8 wasn't great, it had some rough storylines and its experiments were hit or miss, but if there's one thing it nailed, it's the ending.

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Psych seasons is:

6 > 4 > 3 > 5 > 7 > 1 > 2 > 8

My ranking of the Psych finales is:

8 > 4 > 3 > 6 > 1 > 5 > 2 > 7

Favorite Episode: Late Night Gus